A typical mop includes a head attached to the end of a handle together with a squeezing mechanism that is used in conjunction with a water bucket to assist in squeezing dirty water out of the mop head. The problem with this prior art cleaning technology and method is that the mop head is rinsed in dirty water, requiring the water in the bucket to be changed frequently and thus making inefficient use of both water and detergent. In addition, prior art systems often leave the cleaned surface wet for a period of time which is longer than desired.
Cleaning apparatus that address these problems may incorporate the use of electric motors to power components such as rotating cleaning members (for instance brushes or pads) which are trailed by vacuum suction devices that provide means for picking up dirty water which has been produced by the rotating brushes scrubbing up dirt with the water provided by the machine. To achieve reasonable versatility from such machines, it is desirable the cleaning members can be interchanged readily, depending for example upon whether it is desired to use the machine for scrubbing, polishing or drying a surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,945,078 describes a machine with an open bottom from which a lower run of an endless fabric belt projects downwardly, this belt passing around a large drive roller and several idler rollers. One of the idler rollers is spring-loaded for tensioning the belt and mounted in a reservoir for water or other liquid into which the upper run of the belt dips before passing through a wringer constituted by a further roller pair. The drive roller is hollow and driven by a motor supported in its interior by an axle traversing one of the end faces of that roller. Drawbacks of this machine include the difficulty in replacing the belt, and in particular the necessity to release the spring-loaded tensioning roller when replacing the belt A large number of rollers are required, increasing manufacturing costs. Furthermore, the dirty liquid wrung from the belt back drains into the reservoir of rinsing water, and due to the lower run of the belt supporting the machine, the machine must be inverted to examine the condition of the belt. It is an object of the present invention to overcome or substantially ameliorate the above disadvantages or more generally to provide an improved cleaning apparatus.